Quirk (Action)

Heroic Action Role-Play

Quirks are psychological traits; idiosyncrasies and motivations that shape how you play your role.

Action Trauma

After you've been in action, once its quiet again, you get a stress reaction. It takes you some time to recover, an awful time where you are shaky and weak as a baby. You can just barely stutter or walk slowly, and can take no actions. If forced into a fight at this time, something snaps inside you and you lose sight of the true objective; once a fight has begun you focus completely on what is directly ahead of you and get a kind of tunnel vision making you unable to react to events around you. This might leave you as the last man around when your friends escape. You are sensitive to your immediate situation and can realize when things turn south for you personally, but you are unable to grasp the overall tactics of a situation once the action starts.

Berserk

It is hard for you to stop fighting when you run out of enemies. At the end of a fight, make a Dodge roll against the highest Mind among your former opponents. If you fail you lose control and go berserk.

When this occurs, you go wild with your lust for violence; you start attacking bystanders, your friends or even yourself, generally in that order. If confronted, people can try to make Charm rolls against a difficulty equal to your Dodge; success brings you out of the killing spree. Otherwise, you are out of control for one round per point of negative outcome on the initial roll.

Bully

This is a villain-style limitation. You are tough only until you meet resistance. You use your Mind as a defense against Impress stunts rather than a skill or other value.

Casual Adventurer

For whatever reason, you don't prepare yourself for adventures. You disdain outfitting and consider adventuring gear to be for sissies. You tend to run off with only what you have at hand - which includes your favorite weapon and any signature items or other schtick-related gear.

You can pick up gear as you go along and use what others have, but such acquisitions are temporary and generally lost if they don't come up each a session.

Competitive

Trigger Action (Focus)

You cannot resist a challenge or competition. As long as a contest is even remotely in your field of competence, you have a compulsive need to win. Accepting a challenge lets you Focus. When a scene has a challenge or contest at it heart, you can focus at the very start of it.

Daredevil

Trigger Action (Focus)

You are a thrill seeking devil-may-care, always looking for dangerous ways to test your mettle. You seek adventure for the danger involved. You still don't play suicidal odds, but you always choose the risky path over the safe bet. When this makes you take a foolhardy action you would not otherwise have taken, you can focus.

Dramatic

Trigger Action (Focus)

This is mainly a flaw for villains, though a hero with this flaw could be an interesting change of pace.

You crave drama, and love being the center of attention. There is nothing so refreshing as the dramatic entrée. You pick fights with people over the smallest things just to grab attention. You have a need to tell other people about your exploits, past and present. You swagger and brag about what you have done, and perhaps more dangerously, what you are about to do. No plan is so secret you cannot give hints of your activities or tell a helpless prisoner about it. You can never resist the chance to gloat over your enemies, and give them a few hints and pointers, to give them a "sporting chance". You actually feel sorry when your opponents cannot match your abilities — if it's difficult or catastrophic, it is almost always good drama.

When this makes you take a stupid but grandiose action you would not otherwise have taken, you can focus.

Ego Focus

Focus

You have some signature that you leave at action scenes - usually an object such as a rose, playing card, or emblem but sometimes something you carve or otherwise mark the spot with.

An ego signature generally makes it easier for others to recognize your handiwork. People will recognize you more easily and react accordingly. It is possible to fake your ego signature, so it is generally not enough to count as an alibi or evidence against you.

If you manage to use this creatively in a scene while there is still action going on, you can focus.

Foot in Mouth

Despite being witty, you have a way of saying just the right thing to make people annoyed or angry. You must have the Charm skill at 10 or more to take this limitation. When you try to do a Common Ground or Seduction stunt, you use an unskilled value of 8.

Gullible

You tend to fall for flattery, seduction, and sweet talk. Any successful Charm stunt against you will cause a Setback.

Heroic

Focus

You have an inherent sense of heroism, a desire to do good and help the weak through heroic action. You enthusiastically seek out opportunities for adventure, and gladly take on daunting tasks in order to help the "small guy". Whenever this makes you take a stupid but heroic action you would not otherwise have done, you can focus.

Honest

Despite being charming, you have a way of saying too much to really fool people. You must have the Charm skill at 10 or more to take this limitation. When you try to do a Acting & Disguise, Distraction, Gambling, or Trick stunt, you use an unskilled value of 8.

Honorable

You subscribe to one or several codes of honor. Each code is a fairly arbitrary set of rules and ethics that shape your behavior - usually into a somewhat archaic but very respectable gentry.

Depending on you code, this usually requires you to deal openly and fairly on a personal level. You are not required to uphold the laws of the land in spirit if not to the letter. You must generally participate in duels when challenged, even if they are forbidden by law. Many honor codes also require chivalrousness towards the other sex and all include a couple of nuisances such as the knight's aversion to riding mares.

Innocent

You are innocent in the ways of the world and the wiles of men. You use your Mind as a defense against Charm stunts rather than a skill or other value. You can overcome this against people who you have personal bad experiences with, but if this happens too often the GM can make you pay off the limitations.

Loyalty

Trigger Action (Focus)

You have some overriding loyalty. This could be a lawman's respect for law and order, a soldier's loyalty to his country or a knight's loyalty to his liege. It can be a clansman's or brave's loyalty to tribe and clan. Whatever it is, you always watch out for the interests of whoever you are loyal to. Whenever your loyalty makes you take an irrational action you would not otherwise have done, you can focus.

Meek

You must have the Impress skill at 10 or more to take this limitation. You lack the forceful personality usually associated with the Impress skill. When you try to do a Browbeat, Upstage or Scare stunt, you use an unskilled value of 8.

Merciful

You abhor personal violence and try never to start a conflict. You realize violence is sometimes the only way, but seek non-violent means whenever possible. If you have combative friends, you will point out nonviolent solutions, but need not go overboard to force the others to avoid violent methods. You will never accept the pointless killing or mistreatment of prisoners. You are not necessarily a pacifist, and can even be a master of personal combat, you just believe very strongly that violence is a means of last resort.

Overambitious

There is no end to your ambition. You wish to do things, own things, lead things. In the end, you may become a megalomaniac, but in most cases the overambitious never achieve their goals, and continue to struggle throughout their lives.

You should define some goal you strive for, something that the GM can use as an adventure hook. Most of the overambitious strive for money and rank, but some might strive for fame, excellence, divine grace or some other, lofty, goal.

Phobia

You have an irrational fear of something - snakes, spiders, heights, and crowds are typical examples. You try to avoid this thing as best you can. If forced to confront it, you get shaky and cannot act unless you spend a Fortune point each round to keep yourself under control. You can spend this Fortune point at any point in the round, saving it until really needed. If you don't spend the Fortune, all you can do is Full Move and Trigger Actions.

Proud

Trigger Action (Focus)

You do anything to save and improve face. You are not necessarily honorable, but you wish to appear so. You disdain mundane chores, and seek excellence and nobleness in what you do. To you, nothing is ever good enough, and you set even higher standards for yourself than for others. You hate it when others try to cheat you of your glory. Whenever you take an irrational action to save face and succeed, you can focus.

Purpose

You have some great purpose which you strive for. This can be world revolution, liberating your country, a family feud or anything that involves more than just yourself. It should not prevent you from participating in normal adventures (that would make you an NPC), but whatever you do you think of, talk about and strive for your Great Purpose.

Romantic

Focus

You live your life for romantic love. This can be one true love, or a series of romantic encounters, but it is more important to you than anything else. You may be a seducer, but then you feel madly for each new passion, even if it is only for a short while. You never mistreat or overuse your lovers. Whenever you take a selfless action to help or protect someone you are romantically involved with, you can focus.

Short Fuse

You react violently to taunts and insults. A successful Impress stunt directed at you always causes a Setback, often a violent one. This setback can cause you to attack which might not hurt you in the short run but can harmful long-time consequences.

Sportsman

Focus

You know you're good and like to test yourself against possible equals. In competition and combat, fairness in paramount. You like fair challenges and one-on-one contests. You may refuse something that is to easy or much too hard. You will not fight a foe if you have an advantage or gang up on someone unless he is immensely powerful. When you manage to level the odds in a conflict, most often by convincing others to stay out of it, you can focus.

Superiority Complex

A villain with this flaw needs to be powerful, or he will quickly become humorous.

You know you are the best at the things you do, and a few of the things you don't do as well. You are cocksure of your abilities and gladly test them. You never chicken out ahead because the opposition seems too tough. If beaten, you either ignore the defeat "next time, he won't have the sun at his back" or flip over and become underconfident for a while.

You are so sure of your abilities and superiority that you don't take your opponents seriously. You think of yourself as superior, not only in a physical sense, but also in a moral and ethical sense; you try to impress this fact upon others. In fact, opponents are childlike things that you wish to correct and put in their place, so that they will admit your superiority. You never consider an opponent to be a real danger or adjust your plans because of the opposition. You try hard not to kill those few opponents who show some promise, you punish or teach them a lesson instead, so that they can learn the ultimate folly and despair of any path but yours.

Superstitious

You believe in the supernatural, in a rather primitive form. You have some occult authority that you believe firmly in, and will go to great lengths to follow any occult advice you get. Certain times and days are “unlucky”, and you cannot spend Fortune points. Nor can you spend Fortune when facing an unusually supernatural adversary, unless you have been appropriately "blessed".

Snake eyes rolls indicate you suffered some bad omen that takes your confidence away - you cannot spend Fortune for the rest of the scene.

Treasure Hunter

You are out to score it big. You want to make that big strike, and then retire. Hard work and long hours is not the way to riches; you want it all at once. Any rumor or suggestion of treasure, gold or opportunity for wealth is worth investigating.

This limitation makes you bait for certain adventure hooks, but you need not be greedy, stingy or selfish; amounts lesser than the "great strike" is no more and no less appealing to you than to other people. And once you get the gold, you need not retire; either you spend it real quick, or it just wasn't as good as you had hoped. But this new treasure map might…